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TAOISM

I  Introduction

It is important to understand the concepts of Taoism because they lie at the heart of the Asian cultures-China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. One Chinese scholar wrote: "No one can hope to understand Chinese philosophy, religion, government, art, medicine-or even cooking-without a real appreciation of the profound philosophy taught in [the Tao Te Ching]... No other Chinese classic of such small size has exercized so much influence".

But what is Taoism all about? What are the principles that lie behind this religion/philosophy that was founded over 2,500 years ago and that has had such a grip on the thinking of the Asian world and now, increasingly, on the West?

II The History of Taoism

Harmony characterized the Chinese society during the first four centuries of the Chou dynasty (1111-249 BC). The basis for the harmony was a set of principles called the Ritual-Music Culture (see also page on Confucianism).

The Ritual-Music Culture was based on the idea that there are certain "ways" of doing things that were mandated by heaven (the Tao). These "ways" were termed "rituals", or li, but the idea of "rituals" went beyond our limited understanding of that term. "Rituals" referred to the proper way of doing things, especially in regard to how to relate to people of higher or lower classes and to those within the family. It was the responsibility of the emperor to rule according to the li, and, as he did so, it was presumed he would promote the welfare of the people. 

The term "music" in the Ritual-Music Culture referred to the sense in which the customs of society were to be like music in that they were to be "conducted with style like an artistic performance".

The idea, then, behind the Ritual-Music Culture was that social harmony would result when the rulers promoted a sense of civility, appropriateness, and virtue among the people.

The principles of the Ritual-Music Culture succeeded in producing harmony in China for four centuries. That harmony began to falter, however, when the feudal states within China started to fight against one another for land and power.

In an effort to restore the harmony, a number of itinerant scholars and political theorists traveled throughout the country attempting to influence the rulers within their theories and worldviews. Confucius (551-479 BC) was the most influential of those scholars and political theorists. He pushed for a return to the precepts of the Ritual-Music Culture. The innovation that Confucius brought to the situation was that all the people, not just the emperor, were to live according to the mandated pattern of heaven, or the Tao.

In spite of Confucius's efforts, however, the social conditions in China continued to deteriorate. What was especially shocking to the Chinese was that the fighting was without restraint. Conflicts had arisen even during the Chou dynasty, but they were fought in accordance with established rules. The present wars, however, were being fought without regard for the proper ways of doing battle. For example, the victorious rulers would sometimes boil the bodies of the defeated and then drink the soup.

Lao Tzu: Lao Tzu (pronounced "Lau-tz"), a contemporary with Confucius, considered Confucius and his Ritual-Music Cultute to actually be responsible for China's state of chaos. He wrote in the Tao Te Ching, the scripture of Taoism: When righteousness is lost, only then does the doctrine of propriety arise. Now, propriety is a superficial expression of loyalty and faithfulness, and the beginning of disorder" (chap. 38; Chan, 158). Lao Tzu was saying that the imposing of external laws reflects the breakdown of internal laws, and harmony will not result when laws are imposed on the people.

Legend has it that Confucius met with Lao Tzu in order to ask about the rituals. Lao Tzu responded to Confucius by saying: "Give up, sir, your proud airs, your many wishes, mannerisms, and extravagant claims. They won't do you any good, sir! That's all I have to tell you". Lao Tzu was telling Confucius that he was going about creating harmony in the wrong way. He was accusing Confucius, rightly or wrongly, of imposing a morality on the people. He considered it a natural reaction of the people to rebel against the imposition of such a moral authoritarianism.

Lao Tzu, on the other hand, saw that the answer to the social chaos was to be found in the Tao (pronounced "dow") and in the principle of wu-wei, which is the principle of purposeful "inactivity". To realize harmony again, taught Lao Tzu, our only "action" should be to align ourselves with the natural flow of the Tao and to let it work its natural course through us. The less the government is involved in this process, the better.

Chuang Tzu: Chuang Tzu, who lived sometime between 399 and 295 BC. took the ideas in the Tao Te Ching as his starting point, developed them further, and emphasized the mystical nature of the Tao. Chuang Tzu's work is called the Chuang Tzu.

Chuang Tzu places more emphasis than did Lao Tzu on the ability of the individual to transform himself or herself through the realization of the Te (pronounced as "duh"), which is the universal Tao manifested in the individual.

The Search for Immorality: The teachings of Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Lieh Tzu-another teacher who came after Chuang Tzu-comprise the foundations for philosophical Taoism. In the centuries that followed, however, Taoism left its philosophical and metaphysical roots and turned to what has been called religious Taoism. This religious Taoism would more appropriately be called "magical" Taoism, for it concerned itself with the development of techniques to utilize for forces of the Tao in order to attain magical powers and immorality.

The change from philosophical Taoism to religious Taoism took place when the developers of religious Taoism interpreted passages from the three foundational teachers in a literal way. Such passages, however, were probably intended to be interpreted figuratively-goals to be aimed for only in a spiritual sense.

Out of this literalistic movement flowed several streams of thought and practice: (1) Hygiene: This stream of thought was not the idea that "cleanliness is next to godliness", but that one can use the ch'i-the breath, or vital energy, within-to purify oneself and to thereby attain immorality; (2) Alchemy: This stream in Taoism sought to change natural elements into an elixir of life that would make one immortal; and (3) P'eng-lai: This name refers to a mythical island (or islands) that was actually being searched for at the time. The belief was that immortal beings and a drug that prevents death would be found on this island.

After a while, these three streams of thought and practice in Taoism merged together and were joined by other magical techniques for attaining immortality. Plus, religious Taoism incorporated a movement that created a host of gods.

Around the third century AD., however, philosophical Taoism made a resurgence through a movement called "Pure Conversation". In Pure Conversation scholars again studied primary scriptures of Taoism-the Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu. This resurgence of philosophical Taoism has continued to this day.

III Christianity Vs. Taoism

(1) The Ultimate:

• Taoism: The Tao: An impersonal force of existence that is beyond differentiation. We are to align ourselves with the Tao, but we cannot know it in an interpersonal way.
• Christianity: God: The personal Creator who is ontologically separate from His creation. He both knows us (Jere. 12:3) and can be known by us in a personal way (John 17:3).

(2) The Meaning of Goodness:

• Taoism: The ultimate form of the Tao is beyond moral distinctions. The yin-yang duality that flows from the Tao represents the balance and the interaction between good and evil. Thus, good and evil are coequal and mutually dependent.
• Christianity: The existence of good is prior to the existence of evil; and moral righteousness is based on the very character of God. Contrary to Taoism, evil is necessary neither to the existence of nor the knowledge of God's goodness.

(3) Nature:

• Taoism: Nature has always existed; it is not created. Nature is moral in the sense that moral laws are like the laws of nature-impersonal principles that have inevitable cause-and-effect consequences.
• Christianity: A creation of God and an expression of the creativity of His being. Nature is morally neutral; persons are moral.

(4) Humanity's Primary Problem:

• Taoism: Human life is in chaos because we do not align ourselves with the "Way" that flows through nature. Such non-alignment results in disorder and disharmony in society-and in one's self.
• Christianity: Human life is in chaos because we have rebelled against God, our Creator. This has caused us to be separated from Him, and it leads to spiritual emptiness.

(5) The Solution:

• Taoism: Reliance on our ability to become aware of the way in which the Tao operates in the world and to align ourselves with it. Transformation comes from our purposeful inactivity (wu-wei) and to "go with the flow" of the Tao.
• Christianity: Reliance on what God has accomplished on our behalf through Jesus Christ. Transformation comes as we repent of our sins (selfishness), trust in the forgiving and reconciling work of Jesus Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to give us new life.

IV The Beliefs of Taoism

(1) The Tao: The Tao Te Ching, in most translations, begins with the following two lines: "The Tao (Way) that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name". As these words imply, the Tao is a mysterious thing; it's beyond knowing, beyond description, and beyond identification. If we think that we can understand the Tao, it's because we have oversimplified it.

Nevertheless, even though the Tao is unknowable and indescribable, the Tao Te Ching does attempt to describe it, as: "There was something undifferentiated and yet complete, Which existed before heaven and earth. Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change. It operates everywhere and is free from danger. It may be considered the mother of the universe. It do not know its name; I call it Tao".

In one sense, then, the Tao is the force of existence itself. In another sense, though, it is beyond even the force of existence, for the Tao Te Ching talks about nonexistence as being even more ultimate than existence: "All things in the world come from being. And being comes from nonbeing".

The Tao Te Ching goes on to clarify that there is an interplay between existence and nonexistence: "Being and nonbeing produce each other". This mutuality is seen in the following analogy: "Clay is molded to form a utensil ["being", or existence], but it is on its nonbeing that the utility of the utensil depends". In other words, a spoon is useful because of the "emptiness" (nonbeing) within the curve (being) of the spoon.

Also, out of nonbeing and being comes the rest of the world: "Tao produced the One. The One produced the two. The two produced the three. and the three produced the ten thousand things".

Therefore, from nonbeing has come being. And from being has come the "two", which is the yin and the yang. And from the "two", has come the three, which is the yin, yang, and ch'i ("breath" or "vital energy"). And from the "three" has come the ten thousand things, or the world.

The Tao is not only the force of existence from which the world flows, but it is also the "Way" or "Pattern" within that world. The picture that the word Tao connotes is the "Way" in which a river flows naturally along its course. The idea is that the Tao is that underlying force that flows through nature and that guides and moves every object in the way that is natural to it.

In addition, the way in which the Tao flows always leads toward harmony, health, and peace. By aligning ourselves with that underlying flow, we will experience such things in our lives.

(2) The Te: Te is that pattern within each object that makes it what it is; it is our individuality, our uniqueness. Te, moreover, is each individual's inner connection to the universal Tao. Therefore, as we are true to who we are in our own unique nature, we will then work in harmony with the natural flow of the universe.

Taoism says that we need to accept the Te-the unique pattern-for what it is, both in ourselves and in other things. We should resist, therefore, making everything conform to our limited idea of what's right. When such conformity is imposed on an object or a person, it will resist, and that resistance is the result of our having not taken into consideration the unique pattern within that person or object. For example, while we as humans would be uncomfortable sleeping in a damp place, a frog would feel at home. But which way of sleeping is right? Both, depending on whether we're talking about a frog or a person. It would go against the Te, though, to impose eitherway of sleeping on the other.

The resistance that is elicited when one's Te, or unique pattern, is violated is why we should act toward others with a certain "inactivity", as discussed in the next section.

(3) The Principle of Inactivity (Wu-Wei): Lao Tzu observed the fighting that was going on between the feudal states, and he noticed that force was inevitably responded to with force. He also noticed that the initial force eventually brought about its own defeat. Lao Tzu wrote, "Violent and fierce people do not die a natural death". He saw that this principle was true not only in the cases involving physical violence but also in the cases of one person imposing his or her will on someone else. It was because when someone imposed his or her will on an object or a person, the pattern-Te-within that object or person resisted.

The Way, then, to achieve one's purpose, says Lao Tzu, is to work with the patterns-the Te-within things rather than to impose one's will on them. This is, in essence, the principle of wu-wei, or "inactivity". Wu-wei is a purposeful "taking no unnatural action"; it's a deliberate removing of one's hands from something and letting nature, or the Tao, take its course.

(4) The Yin/Yang Duality: The Tao Te Ching said that "The One produced the two". The "two" are the yin and the yang-the opposing but, at the same time, balancing and interacting forces within nature. The following are some examples:

Even though the two forces are opposites of each other, they also interact with each other, and by doing so life and nature are produced.

As we look at nature, we are to view it as a whole, as manifesting both the yin and yang, for they are mutually dependent-we cannot know the one apart from the contrast of the other. For example, we cannot know the good without the evil to give us perspective. The symbol for Yin and Yang-a circle with black and white halves curling into each other-denotes this interactive and interdependent relationship.

The Yin and the Yang were also used in the Taoist-in fact, in the Chinese-practice of divination. In Chinese religious life, the summer and winter solstices were the most important times of the year, when the forces of yin and yang reached their peaks and gave way to each other. The Spring Festival (also called Chinese New Year) is one of these times. To a people who believed that their lives were centered in the flow of the natural world, this was an important time for divining the future. Fortune tellers and mediums were sought for help in making big decisions, such as weddings, funerals, and large investments; and their advice was followed to the letter.

Even today and in the most modern of Chinese cities, spiritual advisors are regularly consulted for big decisions. What the West would call "superstition", the Chinese would call "going with the flow", and would, at all costs, avoid getting out of touch with the natural flow of nature. With rspect to the yin/yang dualit, one does not try to avoid one or the other; rather, it is important to live in harmony between them both, never having too much of either.

V The Origins of the Tao Te Ching

Lao Tzu's life is clouded in legend. There is considerable doubt that a person named Lao Tzu actually existed. For one thing, Lao Tzu, which means "the old philosopher" or "the old master", is a term of respect rather than an actual name.

Not surprisingly, then, there is also disagreement among scholars concerning the origins of the Tao Te Ching. Some say it is the work of several authors whose verses were collected over the course of several centuries, and others say that it is the work of one man named Li Ehr, who was given the honorary title of Lao Tzu.

The controversy about one or many authors is beyond the scope of this study; and for the sake of simplicity, we will assume the "one man" theory.

VI Summary

Taoism is a compelling system of ideas, many of them paradoxical and contrary to the Western way of thinking, which is often more comfortable with distinct differences between things.

Taoism is decidedly naturalistic in that nature is the measure of all things. It is also "societistic" in the sense that human society is the arena wherein the "Way" plays out and is understood. While practical in every way, Taoism retains a sense of the mystical and unattainable in that the true "Way" can only be approached, it can never be fully understood or modeled. And yet, while the "Way" is beyond being fully understood, it is decidedly this-worldly in that it is not beyond but within humanity, expressing itself through daily life in the mundane world.

The Tao, moreover, is not personal and can neither know us nor be known by us in a personal way. In all the Taoist scriptures the sage talks about the Tao, never to the Tao.

                  By Kent Kedl & Dean C. Halverson